''Boom Town'' is a 1998 historical fiction picture book written by

Sonia Levitin Sonia Wolff Levitin (born August 18, 1934) is a German-American novelist, artist, producer. Levitin, a Holocaust survivor, has written over forty novels and picture books for young adults and children, as well as several theatrical plays and pu ...

, illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith and published by Orchard Books. ''Boom Town'' tells the story of Amanda and her family after they move to California to accompany her father in his search for gold during the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

. To alleviate her boredom, Amanda figures out how to bake pies, and by a combination of circumstance and cleverness she starts a successful bakery that kickstarts the settlement into becoming a

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...

. Favorably reviewed at the time of its release, ''Boom Town'' was nominated for the Nebraska Golden Sower Award and was included in the '' Reading Teacher'''s 1999 Teacher's Choices list of recommended books for curriculum use.

Background

Though she spent most of her career writing

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

, author

ventured into writing picture books in the late-twentieth century. One of these picture books was ''Nine for California''. Published in 1996, ''Nine for California'' is a work of

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

about a girl named Amanda and her family's journey from Missouri to California during the

. While reading a book about the history of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, Levitin noticed a description of a girl who, during the Gold Rush, baked $11,000 worth of pies. Inspired by this story, Levitin wrote ''Boom Town'' as a sequel to ''Nine for California'', further developing the story of Amanda and her family.

Summary

''Boom Town'' is narrated in the first-person by Amanda. The book opens on Amanda and her family having moved to California where her father prospects for gold. The family's new home town is sparsely inhabited, including only "a stage stop, a pump house, a few log cabins." Out of boredom, Amanda figures out, after a few tries, how to bake

gooseberry Gooseberry ( or (American and northern British) or (southern British)) is a common name for many species of ''Ribes'' (which also includes currants), as well as a large number of plants of similar appearance. The berries of those in the genu ...

pie using her family's wood-fire stove. When Amanda's father reports that he sold her

pie A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), swe ...

to other miners for 25 cents a slice, the experiment turns into a

small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...

, and Amanda ropes her brothers into working for her in a bakery where she sells pies to local prospectors. Amanda's impromptu pie business achieves success, and Amanda gradually convinces other travelers to settle down in the area and start shops. For example, she suggests to a peddler who sells her more pie pans that he open a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

in town, and she persuades several others to start local businesses such as a livery yard and

laundry Laundry refers to the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with t ...

. Reviewer Anne Scott MacLeod explains how thanks to these developments, "the settlement is a real town, all because of Amanda's enterprising spirit." Recognizing Amanda's success, her father gives up trying to strike gold and instead starts working for Amanda in her bakery, freeing her up to attend the town's new

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

. At the end of the book, there is a historical note stating that many people who found success during the Gold Rush did so as entrepreneurs rather than as miners. This note also refers to the girl baker whose story inspired ''Boom Town''. There is also a

recipe A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe. His ...

for Amanda's gooseberry pie.

Illustrations

Cat Bowman Smith illustrated ''Boom Town'' with what ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' called "detailed

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

s". The hues are dusty and earthy. The ''Reading Teacher'' described the style as having "cartoonish flair". Smith's illustrations depict the landscape, the town, and the characters, from Amanda's baby sister to Amanda herself in her gingham dress. According to reviewer Anne Scott MacLeod, the characters' clothes, tools, and other details are accurate to the setting. Smith diversifies the book through her illustrations by including

Black Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

and

Asians Asian people (or Asians, sometimes referred to as Asiatic people)United States National Library of Medicine. Medical Subject Headings. 2004. November 17, 200Nlm.nih.gov: ''Asian Continental Ancestry Group'' is also used for categorical purpos ...

in the town's cast.

Publication

Orchard Books published ''Boom Town'' in March 1998. The book is 40 pages long. The pages are not numbered. A paperback edition was published in 2004. Levitin wrote and Smith illustrated a sequel also starring Amanda titled ''Taking Charge'', which Orchard Books published in 1999.

Critical reception

''Boom Town'' received favorable book reviews. ''Kirkus'' called the book "a deeply satisfying story starring a resourceful heroine". In the ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

'', Steven Engelfried praised the narratorial voice for Amanda, stating the character added "just the right touch of humor to an authentic, though exaggerated look at the development of the West". According to education professor Debby Zambo, ''Boom Town'' has strong female characters. Reviewers complimented the book's potential pedagogical value. Writing for ''Booklist'', reviewer Lauren Peterson concluded that "True or not, this is an entertaining way to learn history." Reviewer Margaret A. Bush, writing for ''

Horn Book Magazine ''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietres ...

'', concluded that Levitin's "intent to demonstrate that far more settlers made fortunes by providing goods and services than by striking gold is adroitly accomplished in this entertaining lesson in history and human nature." Smith's illustrations were also praised. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' stated that her "rollicking, dusty-toned watercolors capture the energy of a developing town and convey the can-do spirit of adventurous settlers." Writing for the ''New York Times'', Anne Scott MacLeod called Smith's artwork "as spirited as Amanda... loose, energetic, cheerful and full of accurate detail." Bush considered Smith's illustration work "comic and informative, conveying the busy lives of the homely, hard-working people". The ''Reading Teacher'' included ''Boom Town'' in its 1999 Teachers' Choices list as one of two recommended books from the previous year for children ages five to eight years old and suggested that

teachers A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

could use ''Boom Town'' in

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

as a companion to teaching about either the California Gold Rush or about frontier towns in the nineteenth-century United States. ''Boom Town'' was nominated for the Nebraska Golden Sower Award.

Notes

External links

''Boom Town'' text
hosted by Read Me a Story, Ink {{Authority control 1998 children's books 1998 fiction books American historical fiction American picture books California Gold Rush in fiction Children's short stories Orchard Books books Works by Sonia Levitin Children's books set in California Children's books set in the 19th century